Truss construction



May 10, 1949. J. RODRIGUES 2,469,577

I I TRUSS CONSTRUCTION Filed March 12, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 1Q, 1949 UNITED S TATES PATENT OFFICE TRUSS. CONSTRUCTION Jose Rodriguesg Fall' River, Mass.

Application March 12, 194-5," SerialaNo.- 582,2.53 (CL 128-96) Claims. I.

The. present-invention relates to the. medical and surgical art, and has particular. reference to an. improved truss construction.

The, principal object of the-invention isto provide' a new type oi truss which automatically exerts. sufficient pressure to-press the hernia parts place without inconveniencing the wearer.

Another object. of the invention is to provide atruss which furnishes arigid noneresilient. support, whereby the retainingpressure is firmly and 1'.

continually exerted at. the; proper place.

Other objectsof, the invention are to provide a very comfortable truss which is adjustable to .the wearer andremain-s in place when in use, and which has. a substantial-area for body-contact so tageous features. inview, the. invention consists of a novel arrangementof parts more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the novel truss base;

Fig. 2 is a similar view, parts being removed and broken away to disclose the construction;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear view of Fig. 1,. part .of one cover being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a View of the novel canvas belt;

Fig. 5 is a side elevationof the novel rupture p Fig. 6 is-a view showing the. truss in: use, the wearer being in a sitting position;

Fig. '7 is a View similar to Fig. 6, the wearer being in standing position; and

Fig. 8 shows the shape assumed by the-rupture pad when-the truss is being worn.

It has. been found desirable. to provide an.- improved truss which is rigid, is non-resilient and stays in place after it has been properly adjusted to the wearer, and which exerts a very firm constant pressure on the body portions desired to be pressed, the truss parts being so arranged that the truss is perfectly comfortable at all times and does not interfere with any normal body movement.

To this end, I provide a rupture pad which is so proportioned that it shapes itself under the holding pressure to close the rupture at its source, and I position a balance pad so as to engage the opposite side of the diaphragm. I further provide a yielding. abdominal plate which engages the abdomen and is slightly swingable so that the rupture pad remains in place at all times, and I utilizea canvas belt which is so shaped that it exerts an even pull on. the body engaging parts and does- .not. -give or-yield. after being set into position.-

Referring to the drawings, the truss It) includes a..-rupt.ure pad ll-ofresilient material, such as sponge rubber, the rupture pad being mounted on .a. metal backing plate I 2,-made ofaluminum or. similar light metal. The rupture pad is locked toa metalsupport bar 13 by passing a lock bolt 14 .through/ayertical slot 15 in the support bar, thus providing a. means for vertical adjustment. The support bar [3. is locked to a second support bar [6, by passing alock bolt I! through aligned horizontal slots l8 inrthe two bars, thus formirigv a length adiustabletruss basalt. A balance .pad Zllis secured to the second. support bar in spacedrelation to the rupture padby passing a lock bolt 2| through a vertical slot 22 in the second support bar, thus providing a vertical adjustment for, the. balance .pad, which. is also preferably made. of. sponge rubber and. has a metal. backing plate 23 An abdominal. plate 24 of metal and having a generally triangular shape is'swlngingly mounted at its lower endon. thelock bolt i! in vertical intermediate-relation to the two pads and is provided with two edge lugs 25 which contact the base'tolimit. the swinging movement; the upper endof .the abdominal. plate is preferably provided with a flexible. disk 26 of rubber of the like which extends above andbeyond the sides of the abdominal plate and is secured thereto by rivets or the like 21.,

ReferringnowtoFig. i a truss belt 28 ofspecial design is made of. non-stretchable material such .as canraswith a central. rectangular portion 29 and,twotriangularendportions 30, 3| The sloping upper edges: of the. endportions are reinforced by providing a double thickness of material as indicated at 32, 33, and the joins between the central and the end portions are reinforced by vertical flexible strips 34, 35 which are preferably sewed in place, whereby the belt retains its shape when in use.

Two strap ends 36, 31 extend outwardly from the triangular end portions in alignment with the sloping upper reinforced edges, the strap end 31 having a length adjusting buckle 38 which is provided with a wire wing 39 pivotally mounted in the body of the buckle 38. The other strap end 36 is received in a buckle 40, see Fig. 3, which has a wire wing 4| pivoted therein and retained in a full roll edge 42 formed at the end of the base bar l3; the wing 39 is releasably received in a partial roll edge 43 formed at the end of the base bar 16.

A resilient pad 44, preferably of sponge rubber, is removably inserted between the pads in front of the abdominal plate as shown in Fig. 1 to cooperate with the pads in presenting a wide transverse surface to the body of the wearer. The holding pressure is thus distributed over a wide area instead of being concentrated, with the result that the diaphragm presses on the truss pads instead of the pads pressing on the diaphragm. The face of the rupture pad is concavely shaped as indicated at 45 in Fig. 5, whereby it assumes the shape illustrated in Fig. 8 when subjected to the holding pressure and locks the body parts in place, as the pads snugly fit on the sides of the pubic bone. The rupture is thus closed at its source, as the resistance of the pubic bone against the truss is greater than the resistance of the diaphragm.

The rupture pad, the balance pad and the abdominal plate are preferably provided with cloth covers or caps 46, 41 and 48, which have elastic edges so that they may be readily mounted and easily removed for cleaning. Metal backing shields 49, 56 for the buckles are preferably provided on bars l3, l6.

While I have described a specific constructional embodiment of my invention, and have disclosed a preferred manner of forming each part, it is not my intention to limit the invention to the specific embodiment disclosed. and changes in the size, arrangement and material used for the parts and in the relative mounting and adjusting of the parts may be made to suit different requirements for trusses and similar medical and surgical devices, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A truss comprising a rigid base including two aligned parts locked to each other at their inner ends and relatively adjustable to provide an extended or contracted length for the base, a rupture pad rigidly mounted on one base part and a balance pad rigidly mounted on the other base part, an abdominal plate pivotally mounted on said base in vertical intermediate relation to the spaced pads, said base parts each having a strap end securing buckle, and a flexible belt of non-stretchable material having its ends detachably connected to said buckles.

2. A truss comprising a rigid base including two aligned parts locked to each other at their inner ends and relatively adjustable to provide an extended or contracted length for the base, a rupture pad rigidly mounted on one base part and a balance pad rigidly mounted on the other base part, said pads being vertically adjustable on their respective base parts, an abdominal plate pivotally mounted on said base in vertical intermediate relation to the spaced pads, said base parts each having a strap end securing buckle, and a flexible belt of non-stretchable material having its ends detachably connected to said buckles.

3. A truss comprising a rigid base having two plate parts, the inner ends of said plate parts having aligned horizontal length adjusting slots and securing means extending therethrough, said plate parts also having vertical slots, a rupture pad and a balance pad, lock means extending through said vertical slots and respectively locking said rupture pad and said balance pad to said plate parts, an abdominal plate swingingly mounted on the plate parts securing means in vertical intermediate relation to the spaced pads, said base parts each having a strap end securing buckle and a flexible belt of non-stretchable material having its ends detachably connected to said buckles.

4. A belt for a truss made of flexible nonstretchable material and having a central rectangular portion and triangular end portions, said triangular end portions having strap ends extending therefrom, in alignment with the sloping upper edges of the triangular end portions to provide a downwardly directed pull on the central rectangular portion.

5. A belt for a truss made of flexible nonstretchable material and having a central rectangular portion and triangular end portions, said triangular end portions having their upper sloping edges reinforced and the joins between the central portion and the triangular end portions having reinforcements, said triangular end portions having strap ends extending therefrom, in alignment with the sloping upper edges of the triangular end portions to provide a downwardly directed pull on the central rectangular portion.

JOSE RODRIGUES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

